The Sky team said Cavendish "suffered considerable road rash but his injuries haven't worsened overnight and he wasn't complaining of any serious discomfort during the transfer to Italy. The medical team will continue to monitor his progress throughout today but we're confident he will be able to ride on."

Cavendish was the first to fall during the sprint finish in Monday's third stage in Denmark, after Ferrari cut him off. The British sprinter won stage 2 on Sunday.

The overall leader Taylor Phinney was then one of about 15 riders who could not avoid the pile‑up. "We'll take another look at his ankle later today and see how it's healing. It's definitely good that this happened before a rest day, since the transport and treatment process took so long," the BMC team physician, Dario Spinelli, said in a statement.

Tuesday is a rest day before the race resumes on Wednesday with a 33km (21‑mile) team time-trial in Verona. Depending on Phinney's condition, BMC could be among the contenders in Wednesday's time trial.

Phinney won the opening time trial on Saturday to become the first American to wear the pink jersey since Christian Vande Velde in 2008 and only the third all-time after Andy Hampsten won the race in 1988. Phinney is not considered a contender for overall victory since he is not a good climber. The three-week race ends on 27 May in Milan.